SEEC Members Oppose Harmful Trump Budget Cuts

Today, President Trump released his budget blueprint for fiscal year 2018. The Trump Budget is characterized by massive cuts to environmental and climate change programs, clean energy investment, and science funding in order to offset a $54 billion increase in military spending, plus the cost to construct an environmentally damaging southern border wall. Here are some of the proposed cuts that are most concerning for SEEC members.

Environmental Protection Agency - Cut by 31 percent or $2.6 billion & cuts 3,200 positions or about 20 percent of EPA workforce

• Discontinues funding for Clean Power Plan, international climate-change programs, and climate change research and partnership programs, a cut of more than $100 million
• Eliminates more than 50 programs, including Energy Star, Targeted Airshed Grants, Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program, and other non-specified programs, a cut of $347 million
• Cuts funding for Superfund by $330 million
• Reduces Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance by $129 million
• Cuts funding for the Office of Research and Development in half, a cut of $233 million
• Cuts EPA Categorical Grants, such as Brownfields, lead, air quality, and others, by $482 million
• No funding for Chesapeake Bay or Great Lakes programs, a cut of $427 million

Department of Energy – Non-nuclear programs cut by 18 percent or $3.1 billion

• Cuts $900 million or 18 percent from the Office of Science which supports research at more than 300 universities and 10 of the nation’s 17 national labs
• Eliminates Energy Star
• Eliminate Weatherization Assistance Program
• Eliminates State Energy Program
• Eliminate Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy
• Eliminate Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program
• Eliminate Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Program
• Unspecified cuts at the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, and the Fossil Energy Research and Development Program

Department of Commerce – Cut by 16 percent or $1.5 billion

• Eliminates funding for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grants and programs supporting coastal and marine management, research and education including the Sea Grant program, a total cut of $250 million to programs that support coastal resilience and partner with universities around the country
• Eliminate funding for the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, a $124 million cut to a program which provides consulting services to small- and medium-size manufacturers

Department of State/USAID – Cut 28 percent or $10.1 billion & Treasury International Programs – Cut by 35% or $803 million

• Eliminates climate-change prevention programs, including pledged payments to U.N. climate-change programs
• Eliminate funding for Global Climate Change Initiative (USAID)
• Eliminate funding for Green Climate Fund
• Eliminate Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund

Department of Agriculture – Cut by 21 percent or $4.7 billion

• Eliminates the Water and Wastewater loan and grant program, a cut of $498 million to a program that support clean and safe drinking water in rural communities
• Health and Human Services – Cut by 18 percent or $15.1 billion
• Cuts National Institute of Health funding by $5.8 billion
• Eliminates funding for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

Interior Department – Cut by 12 percent of $1.5 billion

• Eliminates funding for National Heritage Areas
• Decreases funding for land acquisition by $120 million

NASA

• Cuts $102 million of funding from Earth science, terminating four missions aimed at understanding climate-change
• Eliminates the $115 million Office of Education

SEEC Members Spoke Out Against These Harmful Trump Budget Cuts:

SEEC Co-Chair Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-06): “The President has made clear through this proposal that he will continue down a destructive path of damaging our environment and public health. Because of the EPA, we have cleaner air, cleaner water, and are reversing the damaging effects of climate change.”

SEEC Co-Chair Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-20): "President Trump has promised time and again to support our middle class and working families, but just like the Trumpcare bill being rammed through Congress, this budget proves he has no intention of keeping that promise. Instead, the President is working to gut nutrition assistance for children and seniors, eliminate nursing and healthcare job training, shred federal support for cutting-edge innovation and life-saving health research, cut sorely-needed funding for rural water systems, and the list goes on and on. If adopted, this budget would make our communities less safe and our economy less competitive."

SEEC Co-Chair Gerry Connolly (VA-11): "You don’t make America great again by unilaterally withdrawing from the world. Since WWII, we have been and we remain the essential nation. Ronald Reagan used to talk about making America that shining city on the hill. What he meant was a beacon, a place people could respect, a place people could look to for succor, for human rights advocacy, for protection for a system of values that undergird personal autonomy and communal freedom. That’s who we are."

SEEC Vice-Chair Congressman Jared Polis (C0-02): “[The President’s] saying less funding for our world-renowned scientists, and more dollars for walls. He's saying less environmental protections, and more pollution in our air and water."

SEEC Vice-Chair Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (ME-01): “As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I will not stand for President Trump’s foolish and shortsighted budget proposal which will make America less healthy, safe, and economically secure. Cutting Meals on Wheels, heating assistance for low-income families, and essential economic stimulus programs that rural states like Maine rely on in order to build a 1.5 billion dollar wall with Mexico shows how out of touch President Trump is with the needs of real Americans. From our families who rely on LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) to our cities and towns that rely on the Economic Development Administration and Community Development Block Grants to bring job creation to Maine, this budget would leave Mainers and Maine communities behind.”

SEEC Vice-Chair Congressman Mike Quigley (IL-05): “The only thing the President’s supposed “America First” budget will do is put hardworking American families last. Devastating cuts to infrastructure spending, jobs training programs, investments in research and development, and much more, will undo all the undeniable progress made over the last eight years and threaten the economic security of the most vulnerable people in our society. Moreover, in return for a useless taxpayer funded border wall, this budget will compromise the quality of our clean air and water, weaken our relationships with our closest allies, and slash funding for homeland security grants that keep us safe from terrorist attacks. Instead of wasting time on such a reckless and short-sighted budget, Congress must work on a new proposal that makes the smart investments necessary to strengthen our competitiveness and keep our communities secure.”

Congresswoman Niki Tsongas (MA-03): “One of the most disturbing cuts is to the Environmental Protection Agency. For more than forty years, the EPA has been at the forefront of the federal government’s efforts to promote public health by protecting the land we live on, the water we drink and the air we breathe. The agency is uniquely positioned to lead the federal government’s efforts against today’s most pressing environmental challenges, from developing fuel efficient vehicles, to improving energy-efficient household appliances to tackling the causes and effects of climate change. Slashing the budget of the EPA would have widespread negative impact here in Massachusetts and in communities across the country; it would make our air and water less clean, it would irrevocably damage our work to combat climate change and it would be detrimental to our efforts to rehabilitate and preserve our environment for future generations.”

Congressman Dave Loebsack (IA-02): “This budget cuts investments in programs that have a proven record of creating jobs and growing the economy, disinvests in education, cuts important funding for rebuilding our infrastructure, eliminates vital workforce training programs, does away with loans to ensure Iowans have access to clean water, and turns off assistance to low income families to help manage heating and energy costs.”

Congressman John Delaney (MD-06): “Donald Trump’s economically illiterate budget is an attack on Maryland and a disaster for our economy. This budget guts the National Institutes of Health, eliminates federal funding to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and eliminates federal economic development grants to Western Maryland. There’s no way of spinning this: from Cumberland to the Chesapeake to St. Mary’s this budget is an assault on Maryland’s economy, environment and quality of life.”

Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27): “[The President’s] attacks on the Environmental Protection Agency threaten clean air and water and exacerbate climate change, for the sake of helping the oil industry. It’s clear Mr. Trump does not understand what actually makes America great, targeting even our inexpensive but impactful arts programs and public radio.”

Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13): “As a social worker and a senior member of the House Budget and House Appropriations Committees, I know that the federal budget is a moral document. Sadly, President Trump’s budget outline once again confirms that his priorities and values are deeply out of step with the American people.”

Congressman Jim McGovern (MA-02): “President Trump talks about helping America’s forgotten men and women, but his reckless budget does just the opposite. In my 20 years in Congress, I have never seen such a heartless, cruel, and dangerous budget. The President’s budget asks the American people to pay billions for the construction of a border wall while decimating America’s investments in jobs, education, clean energy and lifesaving medical research.”

Congressman Earl Blumenauer (OR-03): “[The President’s] priorities for our country are wrong. Proposals to unnecessarily expand an already bloated defense budget and to build a wall come at the expense of affordable housing, clean air and water, life-saving medical research, diplomacy, and so much more.”

Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09): “[The President’s budget] cuts the Environmental Protection Agency by 31% and eliminates programs that support clean energy research. The State Department would receive a 29% decrease in its budget. The list of important programs cut or eliminated is huge. President Trump’s budget will thrust American into social and cultural deterioration, a new Dark Ages.”

Congressman Ed Perlmutter (CO-07): “President Trump’s proposed budget will have devastating consequences for our country and for Colorado. I will do my best to fight against the cuts affecting hardworking families, federal employees, businesses and research organizations.”

Congressman Tim Ryan (OH-13): “President Trump’s budget would completely eliminate the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which would have a devastating impact here in Ohio. When you really look at it, this budget is nothing more than a laundry list of broken promises. After promising clear air and water for all American’s in his joint address to Congress, he obliterates the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by 31 percent.”

Congressman David Price (NC-04): “This isn’t a skinny budget; it’s a starvation budget. President Trump clearly has no intention of fulfilling his campaign promises to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure or provide new opportunities for economic mobility. These radical cuts would make it impossible to make the investments in our future that a great country must make.”

Congresswoman Katherine Clark (MA-05): “Where we spend our money is a reflection of our values, and Trump’s draconian budget makes clear that he doesn’t value hardworking families, victims of domestic violence, hungry students, seniors, or anyone who wants to breathe clean air and drink clean water.”

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01): “The President’s budget is just another example of how this administration has been long on rhetoric and short on specifics. However, previous reports and the framework of this budget suggest it would present enormous setbacks in nearly every area affecting our economy. It would have a negative impact on critical research, our environment, affordable housing programs and the arts, to name a few. It’s time to stop budgeting from one manufactured crisis to the next, and work on bipartisan compromises that will set the country on the right course through strategic investments in education, research, clean energy and infrastructure.”

Congressman Don Beyer (VA-08): “Budgets reflect values. President Trump wants to spend more on defense and border security while making huge cuts to what they defend: our people, our health, and our environment. These extreme cuts will hit my constituents particularly hard, including many federal workers at the State Department and Environmental Protection Agency. But their pain will be felt across the entire country. I don't believe that the American people want their health, education, safety, or environment to suffer from severe cuts, and I don't believe that they will support this radical budget which cuts the agencies which protect them.”

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05): “President Trump’s FY18 budget contains significant cuts and changes to several departments that are simply put -- harmful. This budget hurts working families and makes low-income families and elderly citizens, most vulnerable.”

Congressman Derek Kilmer (WA-06): “The 3,200 people in our region who work in the shellfish industry will be impacted by cuts to Puget Sound funding and clean water programs. Folks on the Olympic Peninsula would be hurt by cuts to the rural ag extension office and by the complete elimination of funding for coastal assistance and support for small, rural airports that are important to our economy.”

Congressman Denn Heck (WA-10): "President Trump and EPA Administrator Pruitt come from business backgrounds, so they know the true costs behind missed opportunities. When the federal government fails to invest in the health of critically important bodies of water like our Puget Sound, environmental problems become environmental disasters. It is in our nation’s best interest to continue an adequate level of funding for Puget Sound restoration. The return on investment is strong and the price of doing nothing is costly beyond our imagination."

Congressman Ted Lieu (CA-33): "For Trump, the urgent, fierce facts of the global climate crisis are ignored. Trump will walk away from the Clean Power Plan, slash programs to develop green technology and eliminate climate change research. With his disgraceful budget, Donald Trump has sent a clear message to every American: You’re On Your Own, Folks. But my fellow Democrats and I have a different message: our budget proposals seek to make our nation healthier and more sustainable, more secure, more just and more inclusive. We are ready to fight for those values and for that vision of America.”